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The financial leaders from Canada, United States, Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Japan will gather on February 5-6 in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Hosted by Canada's Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, the G7 Finance Ministers meeting will be the first major event to be held in the Nunavut capital, which has a population of 6,200.
Robyn Turgeon is a very busy woman and used that, plus her mother's guilt, as the theme on her Master's of Education Thesis, She Carries the Earth on her Back: Scholar, Teacher, Mother and Anishinaabekew.
The Wolastoqewiyik Traditional Council of Tobic plans to issue an injunction against the proposed sale of parts of NB (New Brunswick) Power to Hydro-Quebec. They allege that the deal is illegal because the natural resources involved belong to First Nations and were never given up. The council's injunction is to be presented to the premiers of New Brunswick and Quebec on Thursday.
We are pleased to announce that the iPortal now has over 20,000 live records. A thesis titled Not Just Another Thug: The Implications of Defining Youth Gangs in a Prairie City (2009) by Robert Henry, an Education student at the University of Saskatchewan, makes the 20,000th live record.
On Wednesday, February 10 and Thursday February 11 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm the SUNTEP/GDC Student Representative Council (SRC) presents the annual Scholastic Book Fair. Proceeds go to Sutherland Elementary School to acquire library resources.
The Third Annual Building Bridges Round Dance, which honours the relationship between provincial public libraries and the Aboriginal community, will take place Friday, February 26th, 2010. The event will be held in the White Calf Gym at the Star Blanket Cree Nation in Lebret, Saskatchewan.
The provincial launch of Saskatchewan Aboriginal Storytelling Month, February 2010 edition will be taking place on February 2, 2010 starting at 1:00 pm at the Saskatoon Campus of the First Nations University, 710 Duke Street, Saskatoon, SK.
An Inuit hunter who has been stranded on an ice floe since Friday is having to wait for better weather to allow for hiis rescue. The experienced hunter, who had a satellite phone with him, was able to contact his wife who arranged for authorities to drop supplies to him until a helicopter will be able to pick him up.
As part of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad, Backstory: Nuu-chah-nulth Ceremonial Curtains and the Work of Ki-Ke-in will be on display at the University of British Columbia's Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery until March 28th, 2010. Many of the items will be on public view for the first time.
According to a new study, the rate of diabetes for Aboriginal women is four times greater than Canadian women overall. Dr. Roland Dyck of the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan also found that members of First Nations are developing the debilitating illness by their 40s, while in the rest of society it tends to strike people in their 70s.
On Wednesday January 27, 4:00-5:30, STARS (Student Teachers Anti-Racism Society) present: "Confronting Racism Through Comedy" at Room 2001, Education Bldg., University of Saskatchewan.
The Government of Canada, through Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), is providing approximately $992,000 for the planning, design and construction of an access road to the development which will consist of 88 cottage lots along lake-front property on the west side of Lake Winnipeg. The funding is available through INAC's Community Economic Opportunity Program (CEOP), which provides support to assist First Nation and Inuit communities in developing economic opportunities.
Craig Stewart, Arctic conservation director with WWF Canada, said shrinking sea ice, caused by climate change, not trade is the main threat polar bears face. Only 300 polar bears per year from Canada; just 2% of the bears' population have been lost to international trade each year since the 1990s according to the wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC.
Ontario aboriginal leaders are criticizing Premier Dalton McGuinty's decision to not devote a full time cabinet minister for aboriginal affairs in a recent cabinet shuffle. Attorney General Chris Bentley assumed responsibility of the aboriginal affairs portfolio after Brad Duguid was moved to energy and infrastructure. A separate aboriginal affairs minister and ministry was one of the key recommendations to come out of the inquiry into the fatal shooting of First Nations protester Dudley George in September 1995 by the Ontario Provincial Police.
The Government of Canada and the Caldwell First Nation, located in southwest Ontario near Blenheim, have agreed upon an offer to take to its members for a vote. Chief Louise Hillier of the Caldwell First Nation is pleased that this longstanding issue is moving towards resolution. “We have been waiting a long time for the promises made to us to be honoured,” she said.
The proposed settlement includes $105 million in financial compensation to resolve the claim. This specific claim dates back to events that took place over 200 years ago.
In spite of a recent report recommending that both Ralph Bell and John Tod elementary schools close, the Kamloops-Thompson School District has no plans to discontinue First Nations Language programs. School administrator Karl de Bruijn said, "the plan is to move the program with the children."
Noted Métis artists Andrea Menard and Donny Parenteau are among the entertainers selected who will be performing at the Saskatchewan Pavilion Entertainment Centre during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
The start of construction of a new water treatment plant at Moose Deer Point First Nation was celebrated on Friday, January 15 by the Honourable Tony Clement, MP for Parry Sound-Muskoka, Minister of Industry. The Government of Canada provided Moose Deer Point First Nation with $20 million in funding through the $1.4 billion investment for Aboriginal peoples under Canada's Economic Action Plan.
The Government of Canada, through it's Aboriginal Skills and Training Strategic Investment Fund ,is investing $4,642,325 in Gabriel Dumont Institute's Health Sector Aboriginal Human Resources Initiative and its Strategic Partnership Development Initiative ($439,800). The two will together receive more than $5 million to provide job planning assistance and training to 280 individuals. More than two-thirds of the participants will be preparing for entry-level jobs in the health sector. The other one-third of participants will be matched with small- and medium-sized employers across Saskatchewan.
On January 30, 2010, as part of Tim Hortons Hockey Day in Canada, coverage of the game between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens will be broadcast in the Inuktitut language by CBC North broadcaster Charlie Panigoniak.
The Labrador Grenfell health board is researching how common the human papillomavirus (HPV) is among aboriginal women there. Recent research has shown that Inuit women have higher rates of the HPV virus which causes cervical cancer. In the future, pap test samples will be sent for special analysis which the health board expects will lead to better screening programs.
The University of New Brunswick (UNB), in Fredericton, New Brunswick is offering, a first for Canada, an opportunity to study for a degree in First Nations governance and management. The standalone degree, is being implemented at the request of First Nations communities, said Linda Doige, director of the Mi'kmaq-Maliseet Institute at the UNB Fredericton campus.
The Government of Canada, through the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills ,will fund Capilano University's Inter-Act project. The $458,157, funded over three years, will provide a model for Aboriginal health organizations to integrate specific skills training into their existing health programming, benefiting Aboriginal learners as well as their families.
The NHLPA’s Goals & Dreams fund donated 36 sets of brand new hockey equipment to help Sachigo Lake First Nation’s Children's Minor Hockey Association. The donation, valued at $18,000 will help the community overcome the challenges of acquiring and shipping the equipment, which is located approximately 800 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Anastasia Qupee, Chief of the Innu First Nation, said that it appears that the community of Sheshatshiu, 20 kilometres north of Goose Bay, NL will be getting its own fire department. Now with the support of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and the provincial government it's one step closer to reality.
First Nations and Métis Relations Minister Bill Hutchinson stated Friday, "we want to build our relationships with First Nations and Métis people so the right thing to do is to wait until they release their own consultation policies, we make First Nations and Métis our priority." This comment was in regards to the Province's decision to release their new Consultation Policy Framework (CPF) after the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) and the Métis Nation - Saskatchewan (MNS) release their consultation position papers in March of 2010.
The Olympic Torch will arrive at Wanuskewin Heritage Park near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on January 11, 2010 at 2:21 p.m.
For a list of all the Aboriginal communities the Olympic Flame will visit during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay see the Vancouver 2010 Website.
Three Saskatchewan First Nation communities; Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN), Flying Dust First Nation (FDFN), and Sakitawak Development Corporation (SDC) and the town of Nipawin have each been allocated $100,000 from the Community Development Trust Fund (CDTF) to draw up economic plans and carry out feasibility studies on potential economic projects.
The global economic downturn affected the forestry industry that these communities relied on and so with the closure or scaling down of lumber mills and operations the communities know they need to find new opportunities for job creation and growth.
The Urban Multipurpose Aboriginal Youth Centres programming element has been renamed Cultural Connections for Aboriginal Youth and will continue to provide programming and accessible, community-based, culturally-focused projects in off-reserve, urban communities to those aged 15-24 years but will now target the participation of youths in the 10-14 age range as well.
The Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI), an Inuit land claim organization, is calling for more Inuit callers to its toll-free "polar bear hotline" to voice their concerns about polar bears in the North. Officials hope the information collected from the phone line will help NTI counter the United States government's proposal to ban all commercial trade of polar bear products in many countries under the Convention on International trade on Endangered Species (CITES).
The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) has released their calender of events, effective January 5, 2010.
Renovations and additions are now complete on Wanuskewin Heritage Park , located near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and doors are open to the public. An official grand opening is scheduled for the spring of 2010.
Sixteen year old actress Abbie Ootova from Pond Inlet is appearing at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in "Night", a production by playwright Christopher Morris. The play runs January 4-16 in Ottawa before stops in Inuvik, NT and Whitehorse, YT.
Among the 57 Canadians named to the country's highest civilian honour by Gov. Gen. Michäelle Jean on December 30 are:
Judy Gingell of Whitehorse, for her years of service in various Yukon aboriginal organizations, including a precursor to the Council of Yukon First Nations. She was also the Yukon's first aboriginal commissioner — the territorial equivalent of a lieutenant-governor — serving from 1995 to 2000.
Murray Angus of Ottawa, who founded the Nunavut Sivuniksavut college program for Inuit youth.
Both Gingell and Angus were named members, which is the starting level within the order. They will be formally invested into the order at a ceremony to be held at a later date.
The Assembly of First Nations is hosting a Think Tank on the Specific Claims 5-Year Review: Establishing the "Framework". This meeting will be held on January 22, 2010 in Ottawa. For further information contact Michelle Itwaru at mitwaru@afn.ca or (613)-241-6789 (ext. 290).
"The Edward Curtis Project" a play written and co-directed by Marie Clements is being presented at the Presentation House Theatre, 333 Chesterfield Ave., North Vancouver from January 21 to January 31, 2010.
On Wednesday at the Legislative Building, Premier Brad Wall, accompanied by Métis Nation - Saskatchewan President, Robert Doucette, and First Nations and Métis Minister Bill Hutchinson, officially proclaimed 2010 as the Year of the Métis in Saskatchewan.
